We had been on the Marella Discovery before and even cruises on the sister ship Marella Discovery 2 last year. We decided to go on another cruise with my Parents and my Brother and Siater-in-law for my Parents 50th golden wedding anniversary. It started out ok with the only gripe was we were not able to book the Surf and Turf speciality restaurant on the day we embarked (11/10/2019), as we missed out with the speciality restaurant we went to the 47 gallery restaurant and the waiter staff were absolutely fantastic which was a consistent feeling when we dined. But this seems to be the only positive thing about the ship. Throughout the whole week the ship smelt of Fuel and a number of the Toilets were continuously blocked and smelly. The Balcony room was looking tired and used needs another refurb. The cabin staff were friendly but missed things when cleaning. The shows were very mediocre compared to previous Marella Cruises. I’m not sure I could guarantee I will cruise by Marella again. Read Less

Thought we were getting a special deal but couldn't be further from the truth Within minutes of embarking had been told we needed to upgrade even although we had already paid to upgrade. Basically we were stolen from by MSC . The safety drill was very poor and was ignored by many. The staff who were in charge seemed very lax and poorly trained Food was dire, miserable and tasteless and was clear what we were eating at night was left over from during the day. Dont bother going to reception to complain as we were told it wasnt their problem and to contact head office. A few nice staff but nothing compared to other cruise ships . Didn't use their excursions as had already been ripped off so done our own thing . If it was half the price tomorrow I still would not book with MSC again, very poor Read Less

Chose this cruise for the itinerary as places we hadn't been before . Have cruised with other companies , Royal Caribbean, Celebrity , P & O previously. Lovely start to the holiday with 3 days in lake Garda prior to picking up the ship in Venice. Boarding at Venice a nightmare took over 2 1/2 hours all down to only having 3 security scanners working for over 3200 people , come on MSC sort yourselves out this is not rocket science open more scanners ! Cabin OK very clean and lovely balcony, the ship is very clean except if you eat in the buffet restaurant which is little better than a poor cafeteria , plates not cleaned away and food left everywhere , get more staff, I have never experienced this on other ships very off putting when you are trying to eat . Also food Luke warm never had a hot meal in there. Main restaurant good food but lacking in service we waited 45 minutes between starter and main course and the waiter only had 4 tables to take care off !! Why is that ? Had the full drinks package which was great , especially the Aperol Spritz ! Now we come to the last day on ship due back into Venice ! We were cursed with thick fog which no one can help its how the communication was handled that I have an issue with . We were told initially that the dock time of 10am had moved to 12pm fair enough . At 2.20pm still no news and then we were told that we would dock at 3.45pm . People had flights that they had missed etc and with no information this made a bad situation worse its all about communicating with your customers guys, people were fuming. We were lucky and had a late flight so all OK for us. When they eventually docked no announcements about getting off the ship so a bun fight ensued and it was pretty much a free for all , I feared someone would get trampled on ! In summary MSC are not of the same quality as the premium brands , granted they are cheaper but have cut corners in the wrong places eg no tissues in the tissue dispenser in the bathroom when asked told ' we don't provide these anymore' really !!! Sorry to rant on but its important people know what to expect Personally MSC not for us prefer better quality and service at a higher cost Read Less

Sadly where do I start . We had booked a deluxe cabin and to our shock we saw no deluxe at all, the windows were that bad we could hardly see out of them. The shower was that small with a shower curtain,not deluxe to me. No toiletries apart from a small soap and shower cream canister. we enjoy going to the restaurant , only the first night was the best after that we were rushed every night and the food was not always hot and the plates cold. The staff were rushing around and the tables way to close to one another and the staff were not always attentive. In the end we tried the buffet lounge which I have to say the food was much better and the plates piping hot. Entertainment was awful it was a comedian and then entertainment team no professional dancers. Service in bars were very relaxed , there seemed to be a lack of staff. Found out later that this was coming to end of season and some were going home. We had diesel fumes which circulated around the ship even in our room on deck 8. Later the captain explained there were complaints about diesel fumes , explanation from the captain something about doing something to the tanks to put in an eu directive on fuel. Seems rather strange to do this while there were passengers on board. I had to cancel a trip due to the fumes making me ill because I ahave asthma . This cruise was a very disappointment overall. If it was coming to end of season that should not have made any difference we still payed for our holiday which our ruby anniversary was spoiled all together. Would I go back on this ship no, it was more like a Butlins camp . I would love to hear from other people affected by the fumes. Read Less

I’m a frequent cruiser (widow-60s), most often with RCL in the Caribbean. This was a bucket-list & 1st European cruise to celebrate my retirement. I was joined by one of my kids. We spent 4 days in Rome first, which was useful to adjust to the time difference. Ship: Service was fine, and ship was maintained well. Food: We really loved the Chef's Table, and our dinners at Giovanni's and Chops. We also had a Chops lunch on embarkation (note: The Key lunch was in the dining room not in Chops itself -- very few people were in the restaurant itself for lunh, and it was a nice way to kick off the cruise). Kid took advantage of coffee-card and enjoyed specialty coffees all week. The Mystery Theatre dinner show was lame, but we really enjoyed meeting our tablemates and the dinner. We ate breakfasts in the Windjammer, which were good. We tried both the Windjammer & MyTime dining (always seated quickly) for other dinners. RCL food has definitely gone downhill, but we enjoyed some very good and some not-so-good meals at both venues. There are two soda machines at the back of the Windjammer for use with the soda-card cups. One didn't work for a few days, but it did not appear that many people used them anyway. Entertainment: We skipped the shows (really -- a Celine Dion impersonator and a couple that makes shadow figures?). Maybe the shows were great, but after days of tours we were simply too tired to go. Lots of trivia and Karaoke, and some good music in the lounges and in atrium. The 2 Billiard tables were always in use. My Kid noted the basketball tournaments were canceled, but few people had showed up anyway. Ship condition: We thought the ship was in very good condition for its age. It had been a few years since I cruised on a small RCL ship, and it felt very cozy. I won $150 on two spins in the small casino (and stopped while I was ahead LOL), so I think the casino was fun. As someone else noted, the ship doesn't get washed down often and we observed dirty/salt-encrusted windows. Not surprising though, in view of the scarcity of water in many of the ports. Excursions: We took all RCL excursions, and only had 1 bad & 1 mediocre tour guide. Our guide for the bus tour of Naples only pointed out sites on the right side of the bus so people on the left side missed 90% of the things he pointed out. In Santorini, our guide for the Oia/Fia tou walked quickly before everyone was even off the bus and often talked to people who were immediately next to her. At one point she described the Santorini volcanos and said that the govenment could stop the above-ground volcano but not the one that was under the ocean. Okaaaaay. I didn't know that Greece is able to stop a volcano!!! By the end of the cruise, I had ended up skipping the excursions in Rhodes & Athens to stay on-board to rest due to strenuous walking tours the previous day (I did not ask for refunds). Santorini was a particular fitness-challenge whether passengers climbed down the 600+ steps to the port or waited in the sun for 1-1/2 hour for the cable car. Quite a few passengers stayed onboad the next day to recover. Overall, very satisfied - the fault was not RCL's, but my own for under-estimating how strenuous the trip would be. Passengers: A mix. Many retirees due to length & month of cruise, but there were also families incl. some young children. Primarily seemed to be Canadians & Americans, but we met a few other nationalities as well. Everyone was very friendly. Biggest take-away from this cruise is NOT about RCL, but the itinerary. I was totally clueless about the reality of the physical challenges of touring countries with so much history (and without America's ADA laws, which we take for granted). Descriptions of excursions disclosed fitness levels but I felt they underestimated how much walking would actually be necessary. I had bought a Fitbit, and routinely found I had walked 8,000-10,000 steps and climbed the equivalent of 10+ staircases on tours -- all in hot sun/80's temps over very uneven and hilly terrain. Tour guides seemed to race ahead. Archeological sites, picturesque villages built on the side of volcanos and historical buildings don't have elevators, benches to rest, etc. I found a folding cane to be useful as a walking stick. Despite the challenges, I'm thrilled that I went on this adventure and believe RCL made it a wonderful experience. Read Less

Review: Royal Caribbean Jewel of the Seas 9 day Greek islands Sailed: Oct 2019 Here’s my thoughts. Just got off the boat ! Note: I’ve cruised many times on most lines. Both as a couple and as a family. This was a mid aged couples honeymoon trip for us THE GOOD - itinerary ! Couldn’t beat the stops for the 9 night Greek islands. Trip was worth it for the ports and the ports are the #1 thing I booked based off of. ***So overall this boat is worth it because of its itinerary and I don’t know many other boats that had as good of an itinerary!! *** - schooner bar area is really nice. Classy. Where lots of people gather to mingle. Also where chopps is. Safari club. This was the nicest area of the ship IMO - chopps grill : was the nicest one I’ve been to on any RC ships. Intimate enough and very nicely decorated and the service was top-notch. Worth checking out even for one night. Recommend an earlier dinner time so that you can see the sunset because the view and windows are beautiful in chops Grill see if you can get a seat near them. - windjammer - some seating areas are really nicely decorated. - staff: no complaints Re any staff. Our waiter. Assistsnt waiter and steward were all amazing. Mohammed Arteum and Sugi - hot tubs: Although generally pretty full; was still able to get in one and they had several hot tubs which is better than most ships I’ve been on! - “the key”. Before boarding the ship I heard a lot of controversial information on if the key was worth it and my opinion is if you were going to fork out the money for the internet package anyhow then for the few extra dollars per day it’s worth it to get the key! Priority getting off the boat for Santorini was definitely worth it. Santorini was the only port where you really needed it and where they offered The key service. The key embarkation lunch by chops Grill (but not actually hosted in chops Grill) as well as the disembarkation breakfast was really nice. this was the first time I didn’t feel rushed off the boat. - steady boat: I felt the jewel was the most steady of a boat that I have been on not very much movement at all ! He stayed on deck 7 middle/ forward to ship. Inside state room. - weather: whoever said that October is the cold / low season for Greece is totally wrong! This was *the best* time of year to go!!! it was actually very comfortable in the mid to high 20s for touring and beaching. I would not want to do Greece in high season July or August with the hot weather and the double size crowds!! it was busy enough in October!!! - main dining room menu: no complaints here there was always lots of variety as well as some popular nightly favourites !! the spaghetti Bolognese. steak. Beef Short rib. cream of mushroom soup and the apple pie with ice cream where some of our favourites on-board. Once again the waiters were fantastic and always had what they knew we wanted in terms of drinks ready to go THE NOT SO GREAT - the entertainment was overall lame for my personal taste. Probably the most boring ship I’ve been on in terms of entertainment. (but that could be because it’s a European cruise with an older crowd?). Didn’t have the quality broadway style shows I personally prefer. I walked out of 3 shows after a few numbers Read Less

Chose this for the Eastern Mediterranean itinerary. The itinerary did NOT disappoint and it was everything we had hoped it would be. LIKES: *The Captain and crew *Dining - Food in the MDR ranged from very good to excellent on a few nights. *Service - Excellent service from our Cabin Steward, Richard. Best steward we have had so far. Dining servers at Table 144 each evening pretty good. The assistant server got rather lax on getting coffee served WITH dessert and it started coming well after desserts had been eaten. Mentioned to the head server, Suraj on the last night and coffee arrived WITH desserts. *Entertainment - Very good with one exception for us. *Celebrity does a marvelous job of matching dinner companions. We have met some of the best people and thank Celebrity for that. DISLIKES: *Embarkation in Barcelona was a nightmare for us. We stood in line an hour to board the ship. WHY? We had done the X-Press Pass check-in online and had read CC reviews where they just breezed on board and their Sea Pass cards were waiting on them in their cabins. We had to do a complete RE-Check-in. Ridiculous. *Boarded the ship on Deck 5 and they were already out of Welcome Bubbly at 11:45am. Headed to the bank of elevators to go down to Deck 3 for Sail Away lunch, That bank of elevators was OUT OF ORDER so back to the forward bank. Ridiculous. *Sail Away luncheon: We were pleased to see the Morrocan Braised Short Ribs on the menu as we had enjoyed them so much last year on the Silhouette. YUK. These ribs seemed to grow more stringy with every bite. One of our companions said the salmon was very good though. *Reflection Symphony (band): TOO LOUD!!!! They played so loudly it was hard to understand the words of the guest singers. Take it down a notch, Reflection. Louder is not always better. This was a complaint voiced by MANY passengers, not just me. *Dress Code: WHAT DRESS CODE? Why tell people what to wear for dinner in the MDR and just let them breeze right in wearing the wrong type clothing? Drop the dress code requirements if you won't enforce them; it would make packing a lot easier! *Health Code Violation in the OV? There were two women on this cruise who had brought their ENORMOUS POODLE with them. I am talking, big poodle! I saw that dog several times in the OV Cafe at lunch. Really? Couldn't you leave the dog in the cabin long enough to eat a meal? In the state where I live only Guide Dogs for the legally blind are allowed in restaurants. *Hygiene: Virtually non-existent on the Reflection. On other Celebrity cruises the employees would literally chase people down to squirt the Purell on their hands before they entered the dining areas. Not so on the Reflection. It was hit and miss. *General Appearance of the ship's interior: Tired and DATED. There was a huge chunk of 'wood' missing from the back of the seat in front of us in the Reflection Theatre. Tacky furniture in the common areas and in the Sky Lounge. *If you have thick hair, bring your own hair dryer or you will spend an hour drying your hair. It is not fun holding the button in for length of time. We were pleased with the itinerary and smooth sailing thanks to Capt. Nicholas. However, we would not sail the Reflection again. I think the ventilation system in the cabins is not really good. I heard to many people coughing......including myself. Think we will stick to the Silhouette. Read Less

The food was fantastic, we ate at some specialty dining and the main dining venues. No complaints here. The food and service were excellent and the venues were always beautiful. I particularly enjoyed Raw on 5. The sushi was excellent and the quality of the seafood was exceptional. The entertainment was also fantastic; Kaleidoscope, Dos Duo, and Ashley Amber being standouts. But, some of the singers in the Grand staircase bar or pool deck could be off key or sound awkward. The spa and fitness centres were excellent facilities but unfortunately have 2 flaws. The gym has so many windows it doesn’t take long to get warm and when your working out more AC would be appreciated. The biggest flaw however, is the spa being below the gym area (maybe they can flip them for the Apex!) I had a wonderful massage but it was marred by the stomping of a gym class above. I suggested to my masseuse they provide some noise cancelling headphones with soft music as a quick fix. We will see what happens! As for excursions they were usually fun and exciting but could sometimes be hindered by being too large. A group can only move as fast as it’s slowest member so if granny with her cane is in the group you’ll spend lots of time waiting at the front. A suggestion for Celebrity would be to give people the option to break groups up by ability. This would give highly active people less time waiting for the group. In turn it would also make less mobile people’s experience more enjoyable by not feeling rushed or guilty by holding up their group. Disembarking and reembarking on the cruise was always orderly and as easy as possible. The ports were all beautiful with something unique to experience at each one. In some cases (such as Catania, and Katakolo) it’s worth looking at an excursion either with Celebrity or privately as the port town itself is either a bit run down (Catania) or just has nothing to see (Katakolo) but they have amazing things to see close by. Edge was my first cruise experience. Other than the minor issues mentioned above I loved the voyage and am already looking ahead to another trip aboard. I hope the suggestions get read! Read Less

I had multiple frustrations long before boarding. Most of which were related to the fact that my mother and I were in different staterooms and it was very difficult to coordinate reservations for excursions or dinner. I was able to for main dining after I figured out how to associate a reservation (tho website still less than intuitive as you have to check the selection you JUST entered for it to associate). However specialty restaurants reserving with two separate rooms was awful. Called concierge. Sort of helped. But when room two called back they showed no availability. Even though we each were singles and would only need one table of two they couldnt do that without days delay and could reacting concierges. Day of embarkation there were multiple stories of same at captains club. It seems to be an incompetent process. I reserved finding ahead of boarding and was assured cancellation would go to my card. So when we cancelled one restaurant that I had out on my CCard for two separate staterooms they credited the respective staterooms rather than my card. I had to fight to get the credit removed from second room back to mine. And notably NOT to my card but as a room credit despite what I was told when booking weeks prior. WiFi - this was a selected perk so we didn’t pay for it (seems expensive). Quality was pretty good however it dropped a LOT (several times a day) and had to continually sign in. Also we had a single device so had to switch between iPad and iPhone but that was a personal frugal option. Drinks. - pool bar frozen dacqaris really bad. They didn’t have Lime (and bartender didn’t even know what I meant by traditional lime) and then added (dark!) rum after so it was not mixed in. The REAL benefit of a drink package is you can just trash the bad drinks and get a different at no charge. Regular margarita was typical and good. I didn’t have many mixed drinks but not one I had wowed in the least. My mother is elite captain level and supposed to get three free wines. They told her free was “not at dinner”. What?? That is just pathetic. Way to value your customers. They really seem to nickel and dime on everything here from alcohol to coffee to dining. Really takes away from overall experience Fitness: The jogging track was lovely as it traversed two levels so had “hills” and went by garden view and sunset bar as well as around pool (a floor above). A very nice walk and longer than most ships at nearly a 1/4 mile per lap. I had heard there was one or two Pelatons on the edge but found no reviews of them so here it is: Peloton. 6 bikes. 2 never seemed to be available for use - always covered. Technically, you must be in suite or have own pelaton account (used peloton before). Free but must reserve a time to use It (or take chance it will be free which it mostly was). However they told one woman it would be $50 for cruise to use them - I think bc she was neither I suite nor had ever used it before. They remove the seats unless someone is scheduled to use it though you might get lucky if you show up after someone finished, but you can just ask trainer to get them. There are never any seats on until 7 am when trainers begin day and you have to ask. They will provide clip on shoes in your size if you want. I LOVE Pelaton and loved that I could use it daily. For me, it was one of the best part of the Edge. I was not in a specialty room but told them (truthfully) I had my own Pelaton account. Something a trainer said led me to believe they may begin charge for using it (if they don't already - no clear policy it seems) They are very tight with making seats available for peloton use. Don’t know why. Sailing day - arrived on ship early and toured gym. Looked good and only 1 or 2 using it. First day we didn’t port until noon. Got there at 7:30 am and hopped on a peloton (before i knew you had to reserve) got kicked off after 30 minutes for someone who had it reserved. Still a good workout. The real shortcomings of the gym: lack of cool down stretching space. Quite crowded (yoga room in use or probably could do there). The free weights area is quite small too and crammed on sea day. There were enough cardio equipment that something was open whole time I was there - stair master, treadmill, techno bike etc. Day two first sea day. Had reserved peloton for 8 am but forgot the time change and got there late. No problem they accommodated me as others were finishing their ride. There was a good amount of buffering at sea and I cut my 45 Min ride to 30 due bc of buffering. The Pool: love the pool for many reasons the main one being it is actually long enough to swim laps in. It is between 20-25 meters (Based on personal stroke count) so a very respectable swim workout can be had. Even at 10:30 am first sea day there were very few in the pool and I was able to swim 1/2 hour without dodging others much at all. However many days into cruise it was clear anyone who had goggles (and some who didn’t) decided to swim laps even if this meant dog paddle, as they realized others were swimming laps. It got congested much of the time after morning. The pool length gets huge points in my book. You could have the pool to yourself in the evening as no one ever there after 6 it seemed. The pool setup with a sundeck and chairs is lovely and pool has submerged rim all around is very nice. Best pool I have experienced on a cruise ship. Pool itself was busy after excursions but still usually could get a couple seats, always both sun and shade available. Did not pay money for fitness classes but there was a good variety of yoga boxing HIIT and Techno Hume RYDE classes. I did yoga in my room a few times which was nice with infinite balcony feeling part of the room. $149 gets you unlimited classes which include yoga, hiit, boxing and more Entertainment. Mediocre. All of the dance and song performances (which seem to be most nights) are a different version of same. 4-5 women are dressed in boy shorts and halter tops (sometimes sequences sometimes In different colors) and the 4-5 men are in tanks and tights or pants. They pair up. One male and one female lead sing. Songs are mostly known songs and they set some plot to it (which is not evident without narrator or reading write up) They finally got a comedian to come after cruise director got feedback of too much of same thing. Musicians were quality violinist and piano from what I heard. I only made it through one full performance. But shows are not my thing. Food. Overall pretty good. Spa cafe is nice, light and healthy - however it is the same bfast and same lunch every single day. Main dining rooms have quality food and service with a different ambiance in each. La Petite Chef was great and worth it. Best food of all and really fun. Ocean view cafe had great variety and all seemed good. I will say desserts are better looking than tasting - in all venues. Eden. First impression on day 1 visit. Feels 70s and dated with plants growing out of walls. Some decor just seems weird. It is not a place I would seek out for any reason particularly to read or relax. Had dinner there night 3. The presentation was wonderful, the service (too) attentive and the food was very good. Not great. The steak dish was decent but far from a great steak. I don’t think it is worth the supplemental expense and wouldn’t do it again. The Eden performance - I misunderstood and thought there was something to happen during dining. Nope (tho we had an early seating). A few crew walked around with weird costumes which is what they wear for 10:15 performance which only happens every other night. Never went but ship mates went and said it was only a singer. I just don’t get (nor did I like) Eden. Finally, this was my first celebrity cruise and I truly enjoyed many things. I really appreciate they now offer single rooms with balcony without doubling the price for solo. But I doubt I will cruise Celebrity again unless there is a fabulous itinerary. It is fine. But if I traveled with my young adult kids I would want a ship that had more fun - race cars on NCL, rock climbing/surfing etc on Royal Caribbean - I like those things too. Yes celebrity is a 'bit classier' but also not as many options for fun. And mixed drinks were not good and packages are ridiculously expensive. If I go by myself I will go Crystal from now on. That is class, never crowded and ALL inclusive with awesome itineraries. Ports: The Nafplio Greece port was the best of all. Beautiful quaint town with great shops and not busy with tourists. Pick an itinerary with that port! Did Corinth canal which was good. Skip OIA in Santorini. It is a MADHOUSE. Horrible. Mykonos was crazy busy too but great streets and shops to wander through. Malta was a let down. Beautiful from ship, great historical buildings but kind of too short stop to do real substance and it just felt like a big city (w traffic) - though historically stunning. Read Less

I chose this cruise because of the new ship the Edge. I’m an elite plus member and I’ve been on many ships starting with the Century I believe Celebrity has cause a major faux pas introducing this series of ships. This ship is for those guests who have it $$$$$$ and those who don’t For instance I chose the infinity room It is a lovely room with an oversized picture window. It can be opened half way with a movable button. However it is not a balcony. If you want a balcony you need to upgrade to a suite. This infinity room cannot be enjoyed by you if your significant other is sleeping. There is no way to order even a pot of coffee without disturbing your mate. Second of all the suite guests can enjoy the top of the ship. The rest of us are not allowed on that floor. The Club established for the elite and above is a darkened room with no windows. Tried it once and at least I’m able to go to other bars for remainder of cruise. On a positive note I will not be spending much time on this ship as we have many ports of call. I’ll be spending future cruises on the Solstice class. At least I’ll be able to enjoy sky lounge and roof top without being turned away because of this caste system. Good luck Celebrity with filling up these ships after the curiosity wears off Read Less

We choose this cruise because the dates coincided with when we needed to be in florence for a wedding. The cruise ended on a sunday and the wedding was the following Wednesday so it was an easy way to kill 2 birds with one stone. We felt it would be a Cliff note version of Italy with the cruise and then go to Florence for the wedding and more time to explore the Tuscan region. The service on the ship was good...both housekeeping and our waiters in the dining room were very good. However...i did not like that at the majority of the cruise, staff was always trying to upsell us to their other restaurants...a murder mystery tour etc. And I believe the food was much better with our last Royal Caribbean cruise...probably 10-12 years ago. The dining room food was just ok..) We booked one ship excursion to Monte carlo and the tour lady was very informative. However...one 4 some of the bus was late getting back to the bus (even after the tour guide preached and preached to be on time.). The tour lady kept waiting for them until finally one of our group asked her to quit penalizing the rest of us and to move on. which she reluctantly did. that was the only ship excursion we booked...the rest we booked through a private tour excursion company...way better for the price. Read Less

Over all the ship is average. Lame lecture circuit.. here we are in the middle of history, Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Rhodes, Malta....you would think a guest lecturer would put some spin of the past, but NO.. the only speaker missed the mark.. had several lectures on how to talk to your dog. Yes. And the turkey is on for the next cruise, too. He is a “ringer”, no way could you get this gig without payola. Shows.. pretty good. Skinny Elton singer was good.. Broadway, good too. Rest ho hum. TV.. in case you wanted to watch football of even hear the news, good luck. TV sucks. Freezes, worthless. Movies are a frighten joke. Cartoons and documentaries unless you want to pick one of a dozen pay per view at $15 each. Selection is sorry. Specialty restaurants.. the Sushi is ok for sushi lovers. Limited menu for others. I think they need to copy Nobu to be success. 25% full. Mostly empty and avoided. Otherwise it will die. QSine is a video novelty restaurant.. worthy of one visit, like a Disney animation. The good one is a Tuscan.. best choice. That’s it. Otherwise the cruise was great. Read Less

Never ever again will I ever step foot on this cruise company!!!! One activity every hour. For 2500 passengers!!! Boring! Not enough restaurants to feed people resulting in very long queues with a lot of angry people! Rude and extremely ignorant staff!!! A lady fainted in front of me and not one staff member went to help her! This ship is unsafe as the crew have no idea of what they are doing!........ oh and did I mention that when you do eat the food is no better than hospital food!. I am going to take this further and not with the cruise company as this cruise line Cleary has no interest in passenger safety and that includes food hygiene....... we even had a woman fall into the water and it took the passengers to save her...... I will warn everyone I know not to book with msc.......... very angry Read Less

Just returned from an amazing cruise on Sinfonia. I’ve cruised Celebrity, Scenic, Royal Caribbean and P&O and I can say MSC were fantastic. Food was absolutely delicious, the Italians know how to cook. I can only assume others have killed their tastebuds if they didn’t like the food. Please ignore negative comments about the food, it’s simply not true. Yes the itinerary is tight but that is no surprise. Just line up and get in early for tender tickets so you are first off the ship and make the most of your time in each port. Santorini and Mykonos were both spectacular. Cabins were comfortable and roomy, I had an inside cabin. Staff were so friendly and helpful. I got calls to my cabin making sure I was happy with everything, Entertainment was fantastic too, good singers and guitarists in the lounges. Only negative was the fact you can’t get second cabin keys when you are a family sharing two cabins with children. This is very problematic and frustrating. Read Less

Just returned from this cruise. We booked this primarily for the itinerary as, even though we’ve cruised quite a bit, we had not visited any of the ports on this cruise save for the departure port of Corfu. We also booked to get an experience of Marella’s move to larger ships, with the Discovery being the biggest we have cruised on to date. Overall the cruise was very good. The facilities on the ship are well documented on the Internet so I won’t go into too much detail, suffice to say they were of a high standard. A few pointers for potential Discovery guests and also the good and not so good points: Good: The staff were superb. Quick to serve, helpful and smiling. I did get to have a chat with the Master of the ship, Captain Chris Dodds, and it was apparent that he was proud of the ship and his staff, justifiably so. The entertainment crew were the best I’ve seen and the Broadway lounge is big enough and well equipped enough to allow spectacular shows to be delivered. All inclusive allowed beers and wines to be on draught in the self service restaurants so you could help yourself. As a consequence you weren’t having to wait to be served to have a drink with your meal. When going into the Broadway lounge for the evening show, drinks were served as you went in so you weren’t having to order a drink once in the lounge. This meant you able to watch the show without people waving their cards at the waiting staff and the staff having to serve drinks in the dark. The Galley 47 restaurant serves Italian dishes and was very good. I used it twice and was very impressed. My jury was out about all inclusive. I considered that that this did not allow the possibility of enticing offers for drinks packages etc for early bookers (which I have used before) but I’m beginning to change my mind. The way that some people went mad at the buffet meant that they have some of my share but, nevertheless, all inclusive allowed me to budget with confidence. Not so good: During our cruise, the main restaurant opened for waiter served breakfast at 07:30. For guests going on organised tours this did not generally give sufficient time for breakfast before the tours commenced. Hence these guests had to use the self service on deck 9, the result of which the self service got unnecessarily busy. This may be a bit unfair. The food was excellently prepared and served. I could not fault it but...... it was a bit safe. I though we could have had a bit more of the Mediterranean flavour. “Tailor the menu to the venue” so to speak. No criticism of the way the food was delivered but more Med, less English would have been my preference. Marella provide all guests with the opportunity to download an “app” which connects to the ship’s Internet (at no cost) and provides details of your on-board account, what’s going on, excursions, where to eat, etc and is, overall very useful. They also still produce the “Cruise News” paper which is left in your cabin during the evening turn down. The problem I encountered is that the itinerary on the “app” and the “Cruise News” didn’t always match up so you still ended up at Destination Services or Reception to verify the precise details. Just a bit of co-ordination needed for what was otherwise a very useful facility. Nothing to do with the actual cruise but I was seriously stitched up over the price, with the possibility of saving almost £300 for the same deal if I’d timed it right, having been enticed to book early with a discount code. I did write to Marella head office (as a long standing and loyal customer, of 20 years if you include Thomson), but my loyally and my comments were dismissed as “bad luck”. Marella/TUI didn’t even bother to respond using the same medium as I did, rather just an e-mail. Itinerary: Good (Santorini apart) and I’ve glad I’ve been. Santorini is too crowded and you end up watching out for the next gap in the crowds rather than enjoying the island. The cable car had a two hour wait to descend so I had to use the steps, past the ill-treated donkeys and horses, tied up with no water, one passing you every so often with a selfish tourist on his back, just so he can tell his mates he took part in the Santorini tradition (don’t use them please). In summary: This was our seventh cruise with Thomson/TUI/Marella and I do detect a change in the target clientele and company’s philosophy. Absolutely nothing but praise for the experience I had, but Marella’s move to larger ships, the subsequent escalating cost to support the all inclusive packages and the dismissive way I was treated by head office may cause me to investigate alternatives. Finally, one area that doesn’t get mentioned very often, my local TUI office (Newark-on-Trent). The staff in there are excellent hence I use them rather than the Internet. I pay a small premium but it’s worth it for the assistance I receive during booking and should I need to book any excursions or have any queries regarding my holiday. Well done to them. Read Less

This was our first cruise and was all we imagined and more. The ship has loads of character and yes there us some vibrations but I found it relaxing. The staff and food were fantastic. We could not fault anything. Our room steward Fernand was great and mad us several towel sculptures which I loved.I know it's not for everyone but we are now looking at our next cruise. We visited Malta which was beautiful and we would go back to. Sicily was ok but only as we did a trip to taromina as Catania looked terrible, graffiti everywhere. We loved Argostoli in Kefalonia and would go back there. We had a tender to shore which was very good. We did a trip to Alberbello when docked in Brindisi which was beautiful. Kotor in Montenegro was absolutely stunning and not to be missed. Looking forward to exploring Croatia for our week now. Read Less

As soon as we stepped on the ship we really liked it. Everywhere is light, bright and airy. Our cabin was 1130 right at the back and was very quiet. The cabin had more storage than we have ever had before and the bathroom was clean and bright with a good shower, always plenty of hot water. The bed was very firm which were great for us and the balcony was a good size. We mostly ate in Latitude or Vista and never had a bad meal nor did we have to wait long. Liked the Nonnas pizza restaurant for lunch and also the Beach Cove where they did hot sandwiches and a salad bar etc. There was also Scoops which did delicious Italian ice creams. We didn't try the pay restaurants as we didn't feel the need. We thought the shows were very professional and loved them all bar one but you can't please everyone. Liked The Beats resident group but weren't keen on The Vibes (the backing was too loud and you couldn't hear the singer very well, on one occasion she sang with The Beats' backing group and she was much better) We loved Danny and Jack who I think were called Swing Pin. There were also other good musicians around the ship. We thought the entertainment in the Squid and Anchor was very poor so we went up to Indigo where it was a lovely atmosphere. The service on the ship was fantastic, all the crew did a great job. We had lovely cabin stewards, Iyoful,Dindo and Jose who were so polite and always asked if everything was okay. The ports of call were all very good and the weather was mostly kind to us. Read Less

This was our 15th cruise on our 5th different cruise line (Celebrity, Carnival, NCL and Holland America). We’ve always liked Royal and went on this ship in February to the Caribbean and wanted to do a Mediterranean cruise. We flew from Canada the week before the cruise and spent three days in Munich and then four days in Rome. Took the train to Civitivecchia the morning of the cruise and started walking to the pier with 8 other cruisers. When we couldn’t find out how to get there, we realized we had to get on a port shuttle bus to take us to the cruise shuttle buses to take us to the terminal Very confusing port with insufficient signage to tell people how to get to the ship. Embarkation – Once we got there, the embarkation was very quick and smooth. Food – the food was very good everywhere, especially in the Windjammer. We didn’t go to any specialty restaurants as I found the food in the buffet and the dining room was great and had lots of variety. Ship – the ship is really nice. I like the layout of the Radiance class and have been on Radiance, Brilliance and the Jewel. The adult solarium pool is very relaxing and the outdoor pool is nice too.. I got a coffee card and had a special coffee (latte, cappucino) almost every day. Ports – we liked all the ports but Malta and Santorini were our favourites. I hadn’t heard much about Valetta but it was beautiful, clean, picturesque. We did a Segway tour and it was a blast. Entertainment – we don’t usually go to the shows but I found the one or two that I went to were as good as any other ship. Summary – Overall, I found the cruise to be great in every way and the itinerary (especially Malta) was everything we hoped it would be! Read Less

This was our first, and last, cruise with MSC. Having been on MANY cruises from the US to many different ports including international ports, this was a great disappointment. The food was below our standards in dining room as well as buffets. Often times it was barely warm and the taste left a lot to be desired in comparison to Royal Caribbean or Celebrity Cruises. The entertainment was mostly a waste of time. We spent more time on our balcony than anywhere on the ship. In all of my years pf traveling, never had I encountered so many rude people onboard. Lots of physically pushing, shoving, and making fun of others. The embarkation was not well organized at all, unless you spoke their language that is. The best part of our cruise was returning to Bari and the wonderful lady who cleaned our cabin. She was super nice and the only blessing on the ship for me. My travel companion enjoyed the spa features as well. Everything else was below our standards and a waste of money. The excursions were rushed and poorly organized. Very little time left to explore or shop. One tour guide was extremely rude to several passengers and yet nothing was done about it. One port was understandably canceled due to weather. The second port had an excursion cut short due to a strike with the bus company. When we complained and asked for a partial refund, it was denied and replaced with a bottle of wine and plate of snacks. We don’t drink at all and don’t eat caviar and the like. The excursion to the hidden beach and caves was not depicted accurately. The beach was a stoney area with a sign of danger - falling rocks. The cave was barely big enough to get a small boat into it and lasted less than 5 minutes. I have been in many caves that were far more interesting and had a lot to look at. This was a rip off! I would not recommend this company to ANYONE! WB Read Less

My wife and I decided to cruise for our 25th Wedding Anniversary. We chose MSC for the location. We were lucky to spend 2 days in Venice prior to departure which was amazing. Firstly having read reviews I see a lot of negative reports on what appear to be unreasonable expectations of the staff. One reviewer using words like “our demands were not met” I didn’t realise it was a dictatorship !! Staff- Wonderful people. Multi lingual. This is an Italian company the staff are from all over the world. If you smile or engage them you get the same back. They work hard but efficiently for your enjoyment. Take some time to speak to them. They are wonderful people with great life stories. Remember they are at work just like most of us do, we all have off days. The food was good. Catering for 3000 people from 6am-11pm is a challenge. We ate in the restaurants. Table served by waiters. The dinner choice was excellent and we made good friends. Staff were very attentive and it felt like an intimate dinner party with fine dining. Potions aren’t big but good quality. If you prefer quantity the Buffett will deliver for you. Didn’t eat enough times to share a balanced opinion but there is huge variety. The drink service is slow but the place is busy. The entertainment was perfect for us. A 30 minute show in the royal theatre. Fantastic performers and quality production. There was live music in every bar more background but variety. We didn’t venture to the nightclub. Out cabin was near the front with a balcony. Perfect room, great views and Olivier was very efficient. We didn’t spend much time in there due to the quality of social areas. The ports were as expected. I’ll leave you to decide. We did not make Katakolon due to weather. MSC excursions are expensive. We were advised by others to do Hop on Hop off buses. We didn’t but on reflection should have around €20pp. We did two MSC trips to Athens and Santorini. The drinks package we had has been changed now. It’s worth doing if you enjoy a drink especially during dinner when your glass is continually topped up !! Over all we loved it and it would take some beating. We will use MSC again and recommend Read Less

This cruise started from Venice and started out badly - the embarkation process was a nightmare. It took us just over 2 and a half hours of standing around with little assistance from MSC personnel. The food was not great either in our view - certainly in the main evening dining. It could have been better prepared, more spices and attention to the taste. I know the kitchens cook for 2000+ people ad it is not easy but that is their job and supposed expertise. I think certain extras were unfair such s paying for tenders at two of the ports. Plus silly things like ice cream - we hade a fantastica package with drinks but had to pay 3 Euros extra to get an ice cream cone One major concern for me was the way the itinerary was described. We were said to have one day at sea - between Split ad Santorini. And so we did. But the visit to Mykonos arrived at 8:00pm at night and left the immediate following morning a 3:00am - thereafter we sailed the whole day and the entire next morning before we got to Dubrovnik. I class this as two whole days at sea and I believe the itinerary description was carefully positioned as to not make this aspect evident. Some passengers had not appreciated this. Read Less

We chose this cruise for the itinerary but were ultimately disappointed with the destinations as the experience was spoiled by ridiculous numbers of tourists, despite it being towards the end of the season. The cabins were fine although the curtains were in dire need of replacing. In general the ship looked tired. The ship was generally very clean and our cabin was spotless thanks to our excellent steward. The food quality varied enormously, as did the service, even though we ate in the same dining room each evening. Occasionally, the food was very good but mostly it was mediocre and occasionally inedible. We did complain about the food on a couple of occasions. There were two formal evenings on the cruise and the information supplied by Royal Caribbean clearly stated that lounge suits or dinner jackets were required in the dining rooms, furthermore any passengers not appropriately dressed would not be able to there and would have to eat in the buffet. Unfortunately, on both formal nights there were numerous people inappropriately dressed in jeans, trainers and t-shirts. We did not take any organised shore excursions as the costs were extortionate. The entertainment was poor. Read Less

The embarking process was quick and smooth. The barman at the lagoona bar. Bagus was the best, always friendly and make us laugh. Our waiter at table 704 de oliviera was great. He treated us like royalty. All the ports except Barndisi was great. There is nothing special to see. I would definitly do this cruise again. The musica staff is the best. Our room was located right in front of the ship and it was quite our cabin steward was very friendly and our room was spotless every time we return to the cabin. The food in the restaurants was great. I've tried all the food of which i could not pronounce the name of and believe me it exceeded my expectations every time. The entertainment staff was full of energy and makes us laugh a lot. Overall it was a great ship with a great crew . Well done guys Read Less

Itinerary appealed to us. Croatian ports and inner passage. We are used to travelling on Princess and Seabourn. We expected something from Azamara that was “in between” but feel we didn’t get it. The food was bland and there was little fish offered as main course on any day. The lunchtime buffet on the final day was outstanding but lunch on other days was not. If you chose to eat light and have a salad there was nothing much to go with the salad unless you had a Caesar salad. We were very impressed with the pre embarkation information and duly loaded our details including photos and set up the Azamara app but when came to check in at Venice the receptionist chose to discard all this and made us start again. Ridiculous. The information on the app was not updated properly so the menus were never accurate. So all in all the app was a shambles. Nonetheless we had an enjoyable cruise but would prefer Princess in future. Read Less

This was my 50th birthday treat. Unfortunately the embarkation was terrible. We were made to wait 2.5 hours in the terminal (felt like cattle shed) before boarding (no organisation just all gathered like being at a concert) Compared to other cruise liners this was disgraceful. Staff on board were not that friendly to start with and I think they had so many complaints they had to make an effort, especially to the ‘English Speaking ‘ guests. The food was okay but not a great selection that you get on other cruise liners but the boat was clean. Plus you had to pay extra for tenders and surcharges that we were not aware of. MSC did listen to our complaints and issued chocolate covered strawberries with an apology but there are only so many strawberries you can eat! I hope they do listen and take on board where they can improve on their service. Read Less